Olympic switch will cost Hammers £140m

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Owners of the debt-ridden East End club would have to find the huge sum to cover the cost of converting the arena to a 50,000 or 60,000-seat venue suitable for Premier League football.

The cost has been calculated by Olympics chiefs and is around 50 per cent higher than original estimates. It is included in a stadium prospectus distributed by the Olympic Park Legacy Company which has begun inviting bids to use the stadium after the Games.

The price estimate provided by the Olympic Delivery Authority of £140m excludes inflation, VAT and fixtures and fittings, so the final figure could be closer to £200m.

The Hammers, who have eight weeks to submit their bid, have also been told there will be no public subsidy to help realise their ambition and would not be able to move in until 2015 — three years after the Games have finished.

Potential bidders can choose from legacy options ranging from the original plan of a post-Games 25,000-seat venue to a 78,000-seat option. But the options most likely to appeal to West Ham are a 50,000 or 60,000 venue.

The OPLC reiterated that an athletics track must remain around the pitch. But bidders have also been warned they may have to pick up the tab for a 400-metre warm-up track near the stadium, a
prerequisite for staging major athletics events.